Judith Merkle Riley > Quotes

“Margaret looked up at him from where she sat by the window.

"Oh, Brother Gregory, what's wrong with your hand"

"I'm just scratching it; it itches."

"Really, is it red?"

"No, it's just a bite. You gave me a flea."

"I don't have fleas, Brother Gregory," insisted Margaret.

"Everyone has fleas, Margaret. It's part of God's plan."

"I don't. I wash them off."

"Margaret, you haven't any sense at all. They just hop back. You can't wash enough to keep them off."

"I do."

"Aren't you afraid your skin will come off? It could, you know. That's much worse than fleas." Brother Gregory spoke with an air of absolute certainty.

"Everyone tells me that. It hasn't come off yet."

"Margaret, you're too hardheaded for your own good. Now take for your next sentence, 'Fleas do not wash off.'"

"Is this right?" She held up the tablet, and Brother Gregory shook his head in mock indignation.

"I despair of you, Margaret. Flea is not spelled with one e--it's spelled with two.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“If I’m kept here much longer, I think I’ll have to have another tantrum. They’re certainly more satisfying than I ever suspected. I can see why a person would get in the habit of it.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, In Pursuit of the Green Lion

“Há qualquer coisa de libertador associada à perda de tudo. Primeiro chora-se, depois fica-se atordoado; em seguida enumera-se aquilo que se perdeu e reflecte-se sobre a dureza do futuro, pensando que nunca conseguiremos obter outras coisas como aquelas que desapareceram. Finalmente, depois de tudo isso, sente-se uma estranha leveza. Sem as coisas que sempre tivemos, passamos a ser outra pessoa, qualquer pessoa, ninguém. É uma sensação esquisita, como a de estarmos embriagados, abandonando-nos à embriaguez. (..) De repente senti-me capaz de qualquer coisa, por muito arrojada que fosse.”
― Judith Merkle Riley , The Serpent Garden

“How funny we are, I thought, the way we dance about each other, each afraid of being hurt by the other.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Serpent Garden

“Tell me, Brother Gregory, in your opinion can a woman think as well as a man?"
"Properly speaking," he said in a learned voice, "a woman cannot think at all, or at least, think as we men know it. But the imitative ability is very greatly developed in women, so that by copying men, some may attain the appearance of thought.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“I could feel something cold stalking my heart. It was fear. They all begin this way, I thought, with pledges of love.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“When faced with the illogical, one must expand the sphere of logic to include rules of logic for that which is not logic. This is the only possibility in a world that works according to the rules of rationality.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“He didn't want to puff her up. Puffed-up women are one of the original sources of trouble in the world. If anyone knew that, it was he. He counted it as one of his duties to mankind to keep women from puffing themselves up, though it had been a most monumental duty in his own marriage. A job requiring a hero. It was one of those things that God, being male, questioned you about before you were let into heaven, and he was proud to say that he hadn't neglected it.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, In Pursuit of the Green Lion

“Why the Romans, Father?" I asked him one afternoon.
"Because, my child, they teach us how to bear suffering in a world of injustice where all faith is dead," he answered.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“If I had the pen of Moliere, I could make him comic. That is the role of art, is it not? To make monsters comic, so we can bear them, and our own cheap griefs into grand tragedy, so that others will weep with us.”
― Judith Merkle Riley

“Oaths, in my opinion, infernal or not, ought to be short.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“There is nothing wrong with being a woman, and doing ordinary things. Sometimes small deeds can show big ideas.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“That is God’s way. He upsets everything and loves to annoy the vain most of all.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“After all, he meant well. Foreigners never seem to understand how little attraction an island of damp fogs, cut off from civilization, and a provincial little court has for us Parisians, who inhabit the most cultivated, powerful monarchy in the world.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“The old days are always better,” replied Brother Sebastian. “The older they are, the better they get. That’s because you don’t remember them as well.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“You haven’t learned anything yet, have you? Don’t you know My hand sustains you?” I began to shiver in the chilly wind, and wrapped my cloak tighter. Then—I just couldn’t help it—I said, “You—have a hand?” “Only in a manner of speaking. I thought you’d understand it better that way.” “Oh, I’m sorry.” “You ought to be. You’re very troublesome, for a woman.” “For a woman—? Are You a man, then, after all?” “I am what people expect Me to be. It’s all they are capable of comprehending. After all, doesn’t it surprise you that I’m speaking in English instead of Latin?” “But I don’t know any Latin.” “Exactly.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“DON’T LOOK LIKE a midwife,” Brother Gregory interrupted, as he blew on a page to make it dry. His face was averted to conceal his distaste. It is one thing to describe, say, the Virgin with angel attendants, but this woman had no discretion at all. “I’m not one anymore,” replied Margaret, looking at him coldly. “That is self-evident; it’s not an art practiced by women in respectable circumstances,” said Brother Gregory, looking around. “It ought to be the most respected profession in the world—midwives witness how God makes the world new,” said Margaret;”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“Give up opium before it kills you. Only coffee is brain food.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“Creativity is, after all, the greatest satisfaction of the human mind.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“No the cat we had to leave. It was not Protestant. But the dog, seeing no future for the Reformed Religion in France, was happy enough to go.”
― Judith Merkle Riley

“The Miraculous Pancake?” my husband rumbled. “I’ve heard of that – they’ve just hit me up for a contribution to a shrine. I gave, of course. I always contribute to shrines.” “Father Edmund,” I asked, “have there been any more Manifestations since the Pancake?” “Oh, yes, several interesting ones. The Glowing Bone, the Floating Sword – that one was false, set up by a charlatan for money – there is also the Angelic Footprint and the Hanged Man’s Thumbnail.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“Tell me, Brother Gregory, in your opinion can a woman think as well as a man?” “Properly speaking,” he said in a learned voice, “a woman cannot think at all, or at least, think as we men know it. But the imitative ability is very greatly developed in women, so that by copying men, some may attain the appearance of thought.” “This imitative ability,” said Margaret in a careful tone of voice, so as not to seem leading, “—how far does it carry women in the most extreme cases?” “Well, as far as true rationality, it cannot lead. In invention, mathematics and the higher philosophy, these being products of original thought and therefore pertaining to men, a woman cannot hope to enter. But in simpler things they have occasionally been trained. And it is, in my mind, entirely just to do so. For is not a falcon made useful to man by being trained in hunting? Is not a dog capable of being changed from a wild, dangerous creature to a gentle companion, capable of retrieving objects and protecting his lord’s house, if trained to the height of his capacities? Thus it is with women – they, too, should be trained as well as they are able, for the sake of their service to man.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“Who put this in your mind, the Devil? He often plants improper desires in women. Women have no reason to write anything at all. They do not take part in great deeds, nor do they think sublime thoughts. These two things are the only proper reasons for writing books. The rest are all vanity, and will lead others into sin. Go home and serve your husband, and thank God that He has made you humble.” I was very discouraged. “Voice,” I said, “you’ve got me a tongue lashing, and I’m sad.” The Voice said, “Keep at it, Margaret. I didn’t think you were the sort of person who gave up so easily.” “It’s really too much for me this time. Everyone’s always telling me what’s impossible, and maybe this time they’re right. No man wants to write down what a woman has to say.” “You just haven’t found the right one yet,” said the Voice. “Keep on looking.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“Poverty is the curse of ancient but numerous lineages.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Master of All Desires

“It is impossible to deny a woman in a feeding mood. It is as if they look right through you, to that small, weak part that has been there since you were a baby and that doesn’t know how to defy authority.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“I am extremely humble,” answered Brother Gregory loftily, gesturing to his clothing in turn. “In fact, if you measure humility by the greatness of the change from one’s previous attire, I am possibly the most humble man in London. With my spiritual exercises in addition, I grow in Humility by leaps and bounds. Actually I expect to see God quite soon.” Brother Gregory looked very self-satisfied.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“Now, if God were a woman, things would be entirely different, it seemed to me. Certainly She wouldn’t make a girl get married when she didn’t want to. She’d let the women do the choosing, and the men would have to wait to be chosen, and obey in all modesty and humility. It would be very, very different in this world, if women could make their own choices. But”
― Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light

“I mistrust mountebanks—especially of the female variety.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“Why the Romans, Father?” I asked him one afternoon. “Because, my child, they teach us how to bear suffering in a world of injustice where all faith is dead,” he answered.”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass

“If there is a God, why would anyone of good sense want to deal with such a second-rate being as the Devil?”
― Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass